CityAndStateNY.com
One short on the debate stage By Sara Dorn
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EMOCRATIC LIEUTENANT governor candidates Ana María Archila and Diana Reyna faced off in a debate, answering questions about gun violence, housing, New York City’s post-pandemic recovery, the nature of the lieutenant governor’s role and more. Reyna, the former Brooklyn deputy borough president who is running alongside Rep. Tom Suozzi, said her experience growing up in Williamsburg motivated her to jump into the race. She said she was particularly inspired by the community programs and leadership instilled in her by the church, along with the housing struggles she and her family faced. “These are the very (foundations of) why I got involved in politics – to be able to provide a better environment for families,” she said, while noting her time serving not only under Eric Adams when he was Brooklyn borough president, but also as a City Council member for 12 years. She added that her record negotiating the budget and serving as co-chair of the Council’s Women’s Caucus and chair of the Small Business Committee taught her to “ask questions.” Archila, a Queens activist and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ running mate, said her organizing experience inspired her to become involved in public service. In the beginning stages of her career, she worked with “a community of day laborers who are mostly undocumented young immigrants who were getting their wages stolen (while working) 12-hour days,” she said. “I understand that people’s dreams are powerful, and the things that are hard in our lives are also the results of policies that compound inequality over time. … Those are the experiences that have shaped me.” Both candidates are Latina and spoke about their heritage. Reyna is Domini-
June 6, 2022
Ana María Archila and Diana Reyna talked about New York’s most pressing issues without Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado. can American, while Archila immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 17 from Colombia. “It was in New York that I found a place that I could call home again. It was in New York that I found the safety to be queer and proud. It was in New York where my children were born, and it was also in New York where I found the power of people who fight for one another,” Archila said. City & State New York and PIX11, in partnership with the Coro New York Leadership Center, co-moderated the debate at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. City & State New York’s City Hall Bureau Chief Jeff Coltin and PIX11 reporter Monica Morales were the moderators. Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado was notably absent from the event, one of several recent or upcoming forums where he has failed to show up at or confirm he will attend. Archila last week made a display of his repeated absences by delivering a schedule, reporters in tow, to his office in Albany of debates that he had been invited to leading up to the June 28 Democratic primary. Reyna twice referenced his absence on the debate stage. “The Hochul administration has failed in New York. It is no secret that Antonio Delgado, her lieutenant governor, her second lieutenant governor, is not even here,” Reyna said, while also noting former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned after he was indicted in a bribery scandal. Here’s how the candidates responded to various debate questions. Gun violence and public safety Reyna denounced the “white supremacy” and “divisiveness” that inspired the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket on May 14 and said that she and Suozzi have a “15-point crime plan” that included battling the gun lobby for tighter firearm controls. She also said the plan would modify bail reforms and implement “prevention and intervention” programs. Archila said her team’s public safety plan demands a $1 billion investment in gun violence prevention and victims’ services. She also spoke out against the “white supremacist violence, facilitated by the free flow
“The Hochul administration has failed in New York. It is no secret that Antonio Delgado, her lieutenant governor, her second lieutenant governor, is not even here.” – Diana Reyna, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor PAUL ORTEGA
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